For reasons of safety and efficiency, chimney flues should be cleaned and scraped regularly to remove creosote deposits. Creosote is a crusty black layer that builds up in the flue as hot, unburned gases and tar-like liquids go up the flue with the smoke from a stove or fireplace fire. As these substances contact cooler surfaces they condense, leaving behind a creosote deposit that builds up fire after fire; the deposits are most heavy at the cooler areas of the chimney, particularly at the top and in the throat area. This creosote build-up acts like an insulator, reducing heat transfer efficiency. Large deposits can even block the flue. Creosote is highly flammable and is a significant cause of house fires. As a general rule, heavily used fireplaces should be cleaned yearly. If a modern, airtight stove has been installed in the fireplace, cleaning should occur more frequently.
At present, creosote is removed from a chimney flue primarily by the use of wire brushes. For cleaning the chimney flue liner, the brushes are raised and lowered within the flue by means of ropes or poles. At the throat area of the flue, wire brushes may be inserted into the flue from below. Another device employs rods of fiberglass or the like which can be connected end to end for lowering a wire brush into the flue. However, it has been found that, while these wire brushes are effective in removing some of the creosote deposit, they do not readily permit sufficient force to be applied to the chimney flue walls to enable removal of heavy creosote deposits. Therefore, it is desirable that a tool be provided that will facilitate removal of heavy creosote deposits from the flue by enabling the user to apply greater force to the chimney wall from various directions in a more sustained manner than has been possible with heretofore-available devices.